John henry miller



(No Model.) I

' J. H. MILLER.

ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONE-S.

Patented June 2, 1896.

ANDREW BGRAHAM. FNOTO'LITHQWASNINFI'ON. D C.

ATENT Orricn,

OF ONE-HALF TO RICHARD T.

MEANY, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 561 ,41 6, dated June2, 1896.

Application filed March 12, 1896. Serial No. 582,938. (No model-l T aZZwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN HENRY MILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of lVashington, in the District of Oolumbia, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Attachments forTelephones, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to telephones, and more specifically to anattachment to the call- IO box thereof for the purpose of preventing theturning of the crank operating the mechanism therein when thetransmitter and receiver are in connection with a telephone at the otherend of the line;

hen it is desired to use a telephone for the purpose of communicatingwith a person having a telephone connected with the central office ofthe system, connection is secured between the two telephones through thecontral office. This is done by turning the crank placed at theright-hand side of the call-box. The rotation of the crank operatesmechanism which signals the central office and operates mcchanismtherein which indicates the telephone from which the call is made. Now.it often occurs that the person who has an swered the call is not theone with whom it is desired to communicate, and when this fact isascertained it usually becomes necessary to go in search of the persondesired, or it may be that either of the persons using the instrument istemporarily called away before he has finished his conversation over thewire. Under such circumstances another person com- 5 ing to thetelephone and desiring to use it, not knowing that it is in connectionwith another telephone, turns the crank on the callbox for the purposeof securing connection with a telephone through the central office,whereupon the central office breaks the connection. The second comer maysecure connection with another telephone by the time the user of theinstrument who had left it but temporarily returns, thereby causingannoyance and delay to the latter; or, as at public telephones in largebuildings, where the calls are received by a messenger, a call is madefor a person in the building, and while the messenger is gone to informhim of the call the connection is broken or changed by another personhaving turned the crank, and

when the person called gets to the call-box there is no means of tellingwho it was that called him up, and much inconvenience and sometimesserious loss is the result. To pre- 5 5 vent as far as possibleannoyances of this kind, I have devised a shield easily and cheaplyconstructed,which may be readily attached to the side of the call-box bymeans of a hinged support inserted between the edges of the box and thedoor thereto, and which may be swung around toward the crank and held inposition by a hook attached to the callbox near the rear thereof and setinto an eye at the outer end of the shield, and when the telephone isnot in use the shield may be swung around against the face of the doorof the call-box and kept there as long as desired without interfering inany wise with the use of the instrument. Any suitable notice may beplaced 011 the shield conveying the information that the telephone is inuse when the shield is placed in front of the call-crank.

In describing my invention reference is to be had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which. similar figures of reference indicate correspondingparts in all the views.

Figure l is a front elevation of a telephone, showing the shield at oneside in front of the crank, its position when in front of the boX beingshown by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the callboX, showingthe crank and hook, a portion being broken away showing hinge of shield.Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the shield and strap to which it ishinged.

In carrying out my invention I use a shield, preferably formed of sheetmetal, tin-plate serving that purpose admirably. I make the shieldoblong as to its general dimensions with rectangular outlines, exceptthat its four corners may be cut away in straight lines, as shown inFig. 1,0r they maybe rounded,though it is obvious that the shield maybecircular, or nearly so, without departing from the principle of myinvention. The shieldlis hinged to a strap or support 2. (Shown in Figs.1 and 2.) The edges of the upper and lower part of the shield are turnedover and down, as shown in Fig. 3, to form guides 8 for the insertiontherein of a card, if so desired. The hinge 3 is made by recessing theend of the plate comprising the shield for a distance about midway ofits width at the end, and turning over and back a part of the plate oneither side of the recess 4: to form knuckles or eyes 5, the edge of theplate above and below the hinge being on a line therewith. A projectingportion of the strap 2 corresponding with the Width of the recess 4 onthe shield-plate is turned over to form a knuckle or eye 7, throughwhich and the eyes 5 of the shield a pintle 6 is passed for holding theshield to the strap. The hinge-strap 2 is made to extend from the frontof the call-box door 9, at the edge thereof, back to the edge of thecall-box, against which the door 9 is hinged and rests when closed. Itis then turned at a right angle to form a part to rest against the edgeof the call-box 10, and at a point where it reaches the interior of thebox it is again turned at a right angle toward the rear of the interiorof the box and extends along and rests directly against the sidethereof. hen the hinge-strap 2 is thus formed, all that is usuallynecessary to hold it firmly in position, when placed in the callbox 10at a point in front of the crank 11, is to open the door 9 of thecall-box 10, place the strap 2 therein, as described, and close and lockthe door. The strap 2, however, has a hole 12 in it at the point whereit rests against the edge of the call-box, in which a screw or nail maybe inserted to fasten it to the edge of the call-box, if desired.

A hook 153 is fastened back of the crank 11 to the molding of thebase-board by means of a screw-eye 14 to be hooked into the eye or loop15, formed on the outer end of the shield, when it is desired to holdthe latter firmly in front of the crank.

By using the shield as shown and described a simple and effectual meansof preventing the use of the telephone by others when personscommunicating therewith are interrupted is provided. By placing theshield bearing a notice thereon in front of the crank the receiver neednot be laid down to indicate that the telephone is in use, but may behung on ing in the rack the circuit with the local battery of thetelephone is complete and the battery is constantly being weakened andexhausted.

It is obvious that instead of inserting the strap 2 between the door andedge of box, as described, the hinge can be tacked upon the outside ofthe call-box; but any means of attaching the shield to the box by screwsor tacks driven into its outer surface is objectionable. My shield mayalso be attached by making the strap 2 flat and inserting it betweenstrips secured to the face of the box by passing them across the face ofthe door and securing their ends at either end of the door when closedby merely bending said ends between the door and its frame or by havingthe strips turned so as to clasp the face of the box by extendingbackward at the corners thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1 An attachment for telephone-boxes, consisting of a movable shieldhaving a hinged strap adapted for attaching the shield to thetelephone-box by inserting the strap between the door and the edge ofthe box, substantially as shown and described.

2. An attachment for telephone-boxes, for indicating that the telephoneis being used in connection with another telephone, consisting of ashield having guides on the face thereof and hinged to a strap, to beinserted and supported between the door and the edge of the call-box towhich said door is hinged, substantially as shown and described.

3. An attachment for telephone-boxes, consisting of a movable shieldhaving guides on the face thereof, a hinged strap for attaching it tothe telephone-box, and a hook for holdin g it in position, substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

4:. In combination with a telephone callbox provided with a crank, ashield, having guides thereon, hinged to a strap adapted to be insertedbetween the door of the call-box and the edge thereof, and a hook forsecuring the shield in front of said crank, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

In testimony whereof I hereto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

JOHN HENRY MILLER.

Vitnesses:

O. B. LESTER, HARRY W. WALLIs.

